![]() ![]() From an audiovisual perspective, Outlast is a resounding success. Miles’ ragged breaths as he flees a pursuer or cowers in a locker serve the same function. Perhaps even more effective than the lighting in creating that tension is the original score, whose menacing strings keep the adrenaline coursing. And although Outlast relies a bit too much on jump scares for my taste, I won’t deny yelping out more than once during my seven hours with the game. In moments where your night-vision illuminates the glowing eyes of an enemy, the effect is truly frightening. There is always the threat of something horrifying lurking in a shadowed corner, which forces you to listen closely for every tiny sound cue-the rustling of chains, the patter of footsteps, the murmuring of the inmates hunting you. Outlast should be commended for its striking use of light (or lack thereof), which plays upon that most basic of human fears. This is not a terribly original mechanic, but it’s an effective one conserving battery power by only allowing yourself brief glances through the grainy green viewfinder adds to the tension created by the unnerving environments. Scrounging for them becomes crucial, since night-vision rapidly drains your camera’s power. Like lantern oil in Amnesia, batteries are scattered around the environment. Activating its night-vision mode is the only way to find your way in the darkness of the asylum. ![]() Navigating the ruined corridors of the asylum, you quickly pick up the game’s few mechanics: how to run, hide, sidle along ledges, squeeze between obstacles, open and close doors, and especially how to use your camcorder. So, par for the course.įor its first hour, Outlast feels promising. Naturally, things go horribly wrong, and Miles is forced into a desperate battle for his life and sanity. As the most prudent of investigators, Miles enters the asylum-which is, of course, populated by homicidal mutated freaks-armed only with a video camera. You’re cast as Miles Upshur, a journalist investigating mysterious occurrences at the decrepit Mount Massive Asylum in Colorado. Outlast, the new PC release from Montreal-based developer Red Barrels, follows in the tradition of predecessors like Silent Hill, Amnesia: The Dark Descent and the best game ever made about a murderous hobbit with giant scissors, Clock Tower. Add appropriately creepy visuals, sound cues and story beats, and the combination can be remarkably effective. Running and hiding are generally the two best tools at your disposal. Survival horror operates by straight-jacketing the typical power fantasy, by making the player feel helpless and vulnerable. Survival horror is a notoriously tricky genre-especially in videogames, where players are accustomed to blasting enemies into giblets with rocket launchers. ![]()
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